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Show Scene '77 THURSDAY. AUGUST 25. 1977 The seawter percolates down through the crevices as much as a mile into the The abundance of marine life was a a wholly unexpected find, said John B. Corliss, an oceanographer from Oregon State University. "The first question, then, was what is the source of food to support these communities? Dr. Corliss, who assembled the research team as part of the International Decade of Ocean Exploration sponsored by the National Science Foundation, said the scientists believe further analysis will show "there Are bacteria in the water from the vents that metabolize sulfur. They subsist on the sulfur in the water and, in turn, are eaten by the clams, mussels, and other animals. earth, close to the magma chamber the fiery molten rock that produces the volcanic activity. Here it is heated and rises to form the hot water geysers on the ocean floor that Dr. Ballard and his colleagues went to explore in the three-ma- Scientists who dived 9,000 feet to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean report they record of dense colonies of marine life clustered around cracks in hot the seabed where mineral-ric- h water flows up from deep in the earth. arm The submarine's also retrieved oversized clams and mussels from the floor of the Pacific, which were brought back to the United States for study. The giant clams, nearly a foot in length, were found feeding at the hot springs on the seabed, along with mussels, sea anemones, tube worms, fish, octopus, and other marine orgraphic found marine animals thriving at depths sunlight never penetrates. The discovery was startling because in the sea, as on land, sunlight is the chief source of energy for the food production that supports most life. Researchers from Oregon State University, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Insitution, Massachusetts Insitute of Technology, Stanford University, and the U.S. Geological Survey used the Woods Hole deqhdiving submersible Alvin in February and March to probe ganisms. fissures in the ocean floor at the ALVIN' Galapagos Rift, 210 miles north of the Galapagos Islands. USING A TOWED camera sled and a baited creature camera devised and operated by National Geographic Society photographic specialists, and taking pictures through Alvins portholes, the scientists obtained a photo claw-equippe- d its mother ship, Lulu, together with Woods Holes research vessel, Knorr, spent seven weeks at the site. Samples of the water flowing into the sea from the underwater vents were collected by the submarine. When tested in a laboratory aboard Knorr, they proved to be rich in hydrogen AND sulfide. submersible WHEN THE WOODS Hole Oceanographic Institution last year sent Dr. Ballard to dive with Alvin in the Cayman Trench, a gigantic trough 12,000 feet down in the Caribbean Sea, the National Geographic Society operated a film laboratory aboard Knorr, so researchers could examine the results of their underwater color photography on the spot. Dr. Corliss of Oregon State credited the same method with enabling the five Galapagos team to accomplish years' work on one expedition." The technique permitted the ship to tow the camera sled on scouting trips over the sea floor. Then its pictures would be developed and scientists would select the most promising site for the next days dive in the submarine or the best place to put the "creature camera" into the water. Being able to look at 600 feet or more of color film within 12 hours of the time it was exposed let us adjust each days plan to get the most efficient use of our limited time at sea," Dr. Corliss said. Ordinarily we wouldnt see the pictures until we returned home. Then it takes two more years to organize another expedition to go back and check out something that looked interesting in the photographs. WHILE THIS PHENOMENON has Scientists Probe Deep Ocean Fioor n Alvin. been observed where shallow water acquires a high hydrogen sulfide content, the dives at the Galapagos Rift provide the first evidence of its occurrence in the deep sea, according to Dr. Holger W. Jannasch, a marine biologist at Woods Hole. One of the chief scientists on the Galapagos expedition, Robert D. Ballard, also of Woods Hole, noted that the water at the mouth of the vents was around 55 degrees F., or about 17 degrees warmer than the surrounding seawater. Hotter vents have been found in the seafloor in other places, but they had little or no marine life, possibly because the water was too hot or did not have the hydrogen sulfide level of the water in the Galapagos Rift, or both. le DR. BALLARD explained that the hot springs are associated with volcanic activity on the floor of the worlds oceans, caused by the movement of the huge plates of the earth's crust. "Volcanic action in the deep sea is very different from the erupting volcanoes we know on land, he said. The extreme pressure and cold at the bottom of the sea quenches and chills the molten rock that erupts from the earths interior. Instead of exploding, the lava oozes out onto the seafloor like toothpaste squeezed from a tube. The lava swiftly hardens to become new crust, which then is broken by repeated eruptions until in some areas the seabed is reduced to rubble strewn with bulbous pillow lava. Photo, by Emory Kmtot it Ninons! Geographic Society GIANT CLAM and darker oversized mussel were found oa the bottom of the Pacific Ocean by researchers probing hot springs thst flow Into the sen from volcanic nctivity beneath the Galapagos Rift Expecting to find n barren underwater desert," scientists instead discovered teeming colonies of sea animals thriving around the fissures on the floor of the ocean, where sunlight never penetrates. A "creature camera" devised by Natlenal Geographic photographic specialists was dropped over the. side. to record the marine Ufe. The battery-operate- d camera, in its underwater housing, focused on a basket pressure-resistaof bait suspended in front of its lens. With the basket resting on the seabed at 9,000 feet, the cameras powerful strobe lights illuminated the clams, mussels, fish, and other animals clustered around the mineral-ric- h springs. agreed. Without the ability to develop nearly 100,000 color photos at the site, he said, some of the information on the teeming life at the DR. BALLARD undersea hot springs might have beenmissed. The phenomenon hadn't been anticipated, and the expedition consisted of "geologists, - chemists, physicists, oceanographers, geophysicists and not a biologist among us, he said. The team reported news of their find to Woods Hole while still at sea, and biologists radioed back advice. nt The Time is Ripe 19 Freezer Beef Sale! BUY ANY NEW AMANA FOOD FREEZER BEFORE SEPTEMBER . 3, 1977 AND .. rtj Vu,..- V GET 100 LBS. OF TRIMILLERS USDA CHOICE BEEF FOR JUST If PER POUND! V V- -i Save 50 And More On Home Furnishings During Foss's Sacrifice Sale Big Beautiful 90" SOFA BEDROOM SET Dresser, Mirror, Bed, Cut Velvet Was $559.00 .of00 Laz-Bo- y ROCKER RECLINER Reg. $279.00 mw ii Mohawk and Masland Was $489.00 DINING SET t at-cftcb- FROM 100 LBS. srarnconorm caonunsE TYPEWRITERS Jr Fresh Eating Or Canning Doz. 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